旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � BIODIVERSITY: BEYOND NOAH'S ARK Page 83 � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴캑 � By: Rep. James H. Scheuer, Chairman, Subcommittee on the Environment � � Continued... � � � � Each endangered species is not an isolated species but part of an � � ecosystem. Eliminating one part of an ecosystem will have adverse � � effects on the whole system - for the whole is indeed greater than the � � sum of its parts. Our ecosystems depend upon the species connections � � within them for their stability and resilience. � � � � These connections require the protection of not only the "charismatic � � mega-fauna" - the endangered California condor, Bald Eagle, or Gray wolf, � � but the little species as well -- the invertebrates and the plants which � � are the foundation of the web of life that all ecosystems depend upon. � � � � How many undiscovered "taxols" exist in our ecosystems today? The Pacific � � Yew had long been thought of as insignificant. Little was known of how � � many even existed in the old-growth forests. It was burned as a weed � � after logging an area. Yet, to the 10,000 women who die annually from � � ovarian cancer, the yew is a highly significant inhabitant of our � � forests. � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸